From looking at the venue of this year's Dublin International Tattoo Convention, it’s difficult to envision its humble beginnings.

But as tattooing has become accepted in Dublin's culture, the event has reflected that growing interest in the capital and across the country.

In the 80s and early 90s, tattoos remained taboo and parlours were hard to come by. Now, there's almost too many according to the convention’s founder, Paddy O’Donoghue.

Paddy says that tattoos are no longer taboo and with the convention in its 17th year, the majority of places that would have previously turned away tattooed patrons are now welcoming them with open arms.

“My dad was mad into art. When he saw my second tattoo he didn’t freak out and neither did my mam so I took that as my licence to keep going and I haven’t stopped since."

Paddy adds an additional tattoo at every convention to mark the occasion.

"Just something small," he said. "It's always important for me. A lot of planning goes into it, almost the entire year."

The dad-of-two will take two weeks off after this weekend before kicking off the planning for 2018's convention.

"Since we started this whole thing, I took one year off working on the convention, but I didn't know what to do with myself. It's exciting to see it grow from year to year and I couldn't imagine doing anything else."